Comments By Amish country

Was going to post yesterday but ended up a little busy.

1. Cranked out 550 miles with a load/unload/load in there getting preloaded for today's first delivery. Also, the paycheck was more then I was expecting this week.

2. Marked 1 year that I started with my first company! In another month will be a full year solo and I should break 100k (local) miles in that first year.

Finding sleep is always a struggle. Most nights I'm looking at 4 hours before I'm up and going again. Somethings going to lose out whether its sleep or family. Luckily I'm only driving a couple hours before I'm out of the truck moving around which helps a lot. You definitely feel it come Friday though and then it all starts again after the 34 weekend reset since most times I do 6 days instead of 5.

Be safe and give yourself a break in between. It's alright to take it easy a day.

I liked 6stringrhythms diary about going into LTL. It's what led me to this community. I just dont have time at the moment to hunt it down.

What's so bad about PA?! Seems like everyone tries to avoid it haha

Getting home for dinner with the wife and daughter. We have a saying "start late, end late". If get going by 4 am I'm getting home for dinner. 5 is a maybe and 6 is a no. Pushes me to get better every day and find ways to save time.

Check how your mirrors are, they ma ugh just need some adjusting. When I first started I had some difficulty linking up just straight backing. Realized I had the mirrors angled in to much and once I bumped them out it made a huge difference. One small adjustment can make a very big difference.

Agree with everyone else. Do a paid cdl training if you can and put the year in there. That way you save your money and can learn how everything works before starting basically on your own. Also, you won't have to worry about the equipment this way. If something goes wrong or you start out a little rough on it you won't have to absorb repair costs.

To throw another variable in here I get paid percent doing "local" work. Do 1-2 load/delivery a day and typically drive 400 miles average. The amount you make is very much defendant on your ability/efficiency with unloading and clock management. If you can hustle and get things done those 2 loads can add up pretty nice but it's tough for people to consistantly be at that point. 1 or 2 set backs in a day and your time is shot.

Coming up on my 1 year solo next month and I average around 1200-1300 gross a week and home every night. Start between 3-4 am and get home around 6 PM. Long days but it's not the physical work of unloading cases and I get to have dinner with my family 95% of the time. It all really comes down to what fits your situation just be prepared to work hard no matter what. Also, location plays a huge role.

When it comes to turns take as much space as you can. That's my feeling about it anyway. Never hurts to have more then you need, but having less can really screw you up.

After everything you've had to go through you deserve this. Once you pass you'll wonder why you were so nervous about it to begin with.

Brent R. and Joe, you still lurking? Just wondering how the new jobs were going for you guys. Interested in your experiences and the processes at the different companies and pays.